Life Regains Normalcy For Officer Hit By Car

January 18, 2003|By Vicky Agnew Staff Writer

HOLLYWOOD — Roni Mangan remembers nothing about the day she nearly lost her life. And for that she is grateful.

More than a year after the 24-year Hollywood police veteran was run over by Lorenzo Jackson, a former letter carrier from Miami, people still approach her to say how glad they are to see her back on the job. She credits the good will as instrumental to her recovery from a head injury that doctors said could have killed her.

"The community was overwhelmingly supportive to my family and me," Mangan, 43, said Friday in her first extended interview since the accident. On Wednesday, a jury convicted Jackson of attempted felony murder. His sentencing is scheduled for February and he faces up to life in prison.

"I have learned that so many people were thinking of me and sending their get-wells and prayers of support. . . . I believe that it worked. The power of prayer worked."

It was 8:40 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2001 and Mangan, a shift supervisor, was on patrol. She was flagged down in front of the business at 300 State Road 7 because Jackson and a woman were fighting in the parking lot. By the time Mangan pulled into the parking lot, Jackson had fled to his Jeep Wrangler and put it in gear.

Mangan got out of her car, raised her arms and ordered Jackson to stop.

Suddenly, it was 3,100 pounds of steel versus Mangan, 5 feet 4 inches tall and 125 pounds. Jackson never stopped. The impact knocked her into her patrol car, slamming her head on the door. Jackson ran over her leg and kept driving.

A witness grabbed Mangan's radio and called for help. The first officer to arrive had to get her breathing again.

Mangan remembers none of it. All she knows of the accident is what she's been told. The blow to her head caused her to lose six weeks of memory. The last thing she remembers is Christmas shopping for her family a few days before the accident.

"Even while I was in the hospital, people were a bit guarded about telling me what happened. I've been told I was in disbelief about anything being so grave," she said. "It's still very surreal not being able to remember anything."

Mangan was hospitalized for six weeks. Memories of her hospital stay come in bits and pieces. Each day, the medical staff wrote their names and changed the date on a board in her room. She remembers thinking, "How did we get into 2002 -- they must have made a mistake."

She went home Feb. 1, 2002. Her husband, Dermot, a Hallandale Beach police officer, and children, Dermot, 15, and Mary, 18 -- had postponed the family Christmas celebration until then so they could share the holiday. She continued a grueling schedule of physical, recreational, occupational and neurological therapy she'd begun in the hospital.

In June she returned to work in an administrative position, her first time behind a desk since she'd served as the department's media spokeswoman from 1999 to early 2001.

"There was no hesitation in wanting to come back," she said. "My goal was to have the same lifestyle I had before."

In September, Mangan -- who had 15 years of road patrol under her belt -- got back in her car and returned to the road as a shift supervisor.

"It was like coming home," she said. "When I decided I wanted to be a police officer, being in a uniform and being in a marked car was where I knew people could look for help."

While she still has pain in her leg, doctors have said the head injury should not cause further problems. It's unlikely she'll regain memory of the time surrounding the accident. That's a burden she'd rather Jackson carry anyway.

"I know I will have physical challenges for the rest of my life. . . . I will probably never remember," she said. "His curse is probably that he will remember forever."

Vicky Agnew can be reached at vagnew@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7922.